Armed with an Nvidia G-Sync module and a 144Hz panel, the AOC G2460PG monitor offers solid gaming performance and a handful of user-friendly features.

Joining manufacturers such as BenQ, Acer, and Asus, AOC has entered the G-Sync gaming market with its G2460PG monitor ($449). Equipped with a 24-inch Twisted-Nematic (TN) panel with a speedy 144Hz refresh rate, the G2460PG employs Nvidia's G-Sync display technology to reduce tearing and input lag while delivering smooth, stutter-free game play. This display offers some nice features, including a built-in USB hub and an adjustable ergonomic stand, but it only has one video input and suffers from narrow viewing angles.

A Word About G-Sync
G-Sync technology was developed by Nvidia to eliminate the screen tearing and stuttering artifacts that plague many of today's graphics-intensive games. Tearing occurs when the monitor is not in sync with the GPU as it attempts to display multiple video frames in a single refresh cycle. It appears as a disjointed, skewed image and can usually be spotted in the center of the screen. Enabling Vertical Sync (V-Sync) in your graphics card's control panel will help reduce or eliminate tearing, but it introduces other issues, including increased input lag (the time it takes for the screen to react to a controller command) and stuttering.

Stuttering occurs when the GPU, while waiting for the screen to refresh, sends the same frame multiple times, causing a noticeable delay. This also leads to input lag issues as the screen tries to play catch up. With G-Sync, the GPU takes control of screen refresh rates, instead of the monitor. A G-Sync-enabled monitor is equipped with a special module that communicates with the GPU, allowing the monitor to operate with a variable refresh rate in order to display frames quickly and in the correct order as they are rendered by the GPU. The result is a much smoother gaming experience, with decreased input lag. There are a few caveats, however; G-Sync only works with a DisplayPort 1.2 signal, and it requires an Nvidia GeForce GTX 650Ti Boost or higher GeForce GTX graphics card.

Design and Features
The G2460PG's 1,920-by-1,080 panel is housed in a 2-inch-thick, matte-black cabinet sporting thin, half-inch bezels. It rests atop a stand that provides height, tilt, and swivel adjustability. The stand also lets you pivot the panel 90 degrees for Portrait-mode viewing and comes with a clip-on cable management bracket.

The bottom bezel is adorned with a strip of green trim and contains four function buttons that you can use to navigate the on-screen menus. Two of the buttons are hot keys for enabling and selecting the Dialpoint crosshair feature, and the other two are hot keys for enabling the Ultra Low Motion Blur (ULMB) feature and launching the menu system. The Dialpoint feature is a neat option that puts a crosshair on the screen to help you take aim at your target. There are six crosshair styles to choose from. The ULMB feature helps reduce motion artifacts, but only works when the monitor is operating with an 85Hz, 100Hz, or 120Hz refresh rate.

As with most of the G-Sync monitors we've reviewed, including the Acer XB280HK, the Philips Brilliance 272G5DYEB, and the Asus ROG Swift PG278Q, the G2460PG's only video port is a DisplayPort 1.2 input, which is necessary for utilizing G-Sync technology. Only the BenQ XL2420G offers multiple video inputs (DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort), but like the others, the DisplayPort must be used to enable G-Sync. In addition to the video input, the rear of the G2460PG is equipped with three USB 3.0 ports (one upstream, two downstream). Two USB 2.0 ports are mounted on the right side of the cabinet, one of which is a rapid-charge port for quickly charging USB peripherals, such as smartphones and tablets.

Picture settings are limited. There are Contrast, Brightness, Gamma, and five color-temperature levels (Warm, Normal, Cool, User, and sRGB), but you don't get any game-optimized picture presets or Black level settings like you do with the BenQ XL2420G. The G2460PG is Nvidia 3D Vision-ready, but you'll have to drop $150 for an Nvidia 3D Vision 2 kit. The monitor is covered by a three-year warranty on parts, labor, and backlight and comes with a resource CD containing drivers and a user guide. It also comes with a DisplayPort cable.

Performance
Not surprisingly, the G2460PG's G-Sync performance is nearly identical to every other G-Sync monitor we've tested. I used Nvidia's Frame Capture Analysis Tool (FCAT), which allows you to toggle between G-Sync, V-Sync-On, and V-Sync-off modes while in the middle of a game, and our Heaven benchmark test running at Ultra quality with anti-aliasing set to 4X. There was noticeable stutter and just a hint of screen tearing with V-Sync disabled. The tearing was eliminated with V-Sync enabled, and the action was much smoother, but a trace of motion stutter remained. Enabling G-Sync removed the stutter and also provided more fluid movement and made the game look better. Results were similar on our Crysis 3 tests.

We typically use the Leo Bodnar Video Input Lag Tester to test input lag, but since it requires an HDMI port to send the input signal to the display I was unable to use it here. However, the G2460PG didn't produce any noticeable lag while playing Crysis 3 and seemed to respond to my keyboard controls without hesitation.

The G2460PG was able to display all shades of gray on the DisplayMate 64-Step Gray-Scale test and delivered accurate red and blue colors, but greens were slightly off. On the chromaticity chart below, measured colors are represented by their corresponding colored dots while their ideal CIE coordinates are represented by the boxes. As you can see, red and blue are very closely aligned with their coordinates, but green is outside of its box. This is quite common with TN panels and also occurs with some In Plane Switching (IPS) panels. Fortunately, the skewed greens are a minor flaw and don't result in tinting or oversaturated colors.

Most TN panels are afflicted with narrow viewing angles, and the G2420G is no different. When viewed from a bottom angle the picture becomes dark at around 40 degrees from center and appears washed out when viewed from the top at around 60 degrees. Side-angle viewing is much better, but there's minor color shifting at around 65 degrees.

The G2460PG doesn't offer any Eco power-saving modes. It consumed 32 watts of power during my tests, which high compared with other 24-inch monitors, such as the AOC E2460SD-TAA (18 watts) and the NEC MultiSync EA244WMi (26 watts). It is comparable to the BenQ XL2420G in Standard mode (30 watts), but the latter has an Eco mode that reduces power consumption to 14 watts.

Conclusion
With the AOC G2460PG, gamers of all stripes can enjoy a smooth gaming experience without screen tearing or motion blur, thanks to the monitor's G-Sync circuitry, 144Hz refresh rate, and fast pixel response. The G2460PG delivers mostly accurate colors and solid gray-scale performance, and it's equipped with a handful of convenient features, such as a fully adjustable stand and a USB port with rapid-charge capabilities. It only has one video input, however, and its viewing-angle performance could be better. The BenQ XL2420G is also a 24-inch G-Sync monitor, and it, too, suffers from narrow viewing angles, but it is equipped with multiple video inputs and offers extensive gamer-centric settings, which is why it remains our Editor's Choice midsize gaming monitor.

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About the Author

As a Contributing Editor for PCMag, John Delaney has been testing and reviewing monitors, TVs, PCs, networking and smart home gear, and other assorted hardware and peripherals for almost 20 years. A 13-year veteran of PC Magazine's Labs (most recently as Director of Operations), John was responsible for the recruitment, training and management of t... See Full Bio

AOC G2460PG

AOC G2460PG

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